Borussia Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang continues to set the pace at the head of the ESM Golden Shoe standings, but his lead has been cut in recent weeks.

The mid-winter Bundesliga break combined with Aubameyang being away on international duty with Gabon at the African Cup of Nations has seen a tightening at the top with no fewer that six players sharing second place, just one goal behind the early pacesetter who has 16 for the season.

Within that group on 15 goals are some of Europe’s biggest names including Lionel Messi, Diego Costa, Alexis Sanchez, Diego Cavani and last year’s winner Luis Suarez.

Further back lurk some big names who will have their eye the prestigious award for Europe’s leading goalscorer. They include Gonzalo Higuain, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Robert Lewandowski and Harry Kane, all of whom have scored 14 goals this season. Two goals further back sits reigning European and World Footballer of the Year, Cristiano Ronaldo, who has picked up the award on a record four occasions.

Only the leading five countries – Spain, Italy, Germany, England and Portugal – in the UEFA rankings have two as their multiplier. This is to emphasise the difference in (international) performance level between clubs from those countries and those of other nations.A player cannot play first in a summer league (e.g. Norway) and then in a winter league (e.g. Spain) and combine the points totals for each season.

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